Which type of coffee machine should I buy?

Having great coffee at home is one of the best ways to upgrade your morning routine, perfect a Saturday lie-in or help you stay sharp during the working day.

But it’s important to get the type of coffee machine that will work for you. If not, you’re just buying another piece of future kitchen cupboard clutter. You may love the look of a shiny espresso maker, but if you’re always in a rush in the mornings, you’re never going to use it. Similarly, if you invest in a pod coffee maker and it turns out the pods from that brand are not to your taste, you’re going to be reselling it before long.

Below, we outline the main types of coffee maker, and suggest some of the best options for each type.

But first: recce your kitchen space

Don’t miss out the first step! Go and have a look at your kitchen and decide where your new coffee machine will stand. If you don’t intend to use it regularly, you’re better off opting for something inexpensive, easy to clean and store, like a Moka Pot.

If a coffee machine isn’t used – and cleaned – regularly, it’ll likely get gummed up with limescale and it won’t work as well, nor will it dispense a delicious cuppa. (We’ve got a brilliant tip for cleaning your coffee machine if you need it.)  

But also, coffee machines can be bulky and heavy and many require you to add water, beans or filters from the top, so check the height of your overhead cabinets.

If you have to drag your machine out from under your kitchen cupboards every time you use it, you’ll soon find yourself reverting to your kettle and a spoonful of instant. In the end, the best coffee maker for you will be one that fits both your habits and your counter space.

Pod/Capsule coffee machines

Pros: Easy; Quick; Convenient; Relatively inexpensive; Versatile coffee options

Cons: Once you buy, you’re locked into one brand; Environmental cost

If convenience is king in your household, this is the coffee machine for you. You simply fill the water reservoir, insert a capsule, press a button and coffee appears. The capsules are single-serve foil or plastic containers filled with pre-ground coffee. Some brands, such Nescafe Dolce Gusto, also sell boxes of coffee pods with capsules containing milk (or plant milk), for making lattes, cappuccinos and the like.

Don’t forget that once you buy a particular brand of pod coffee maker, you are limited to that system for as long as you use the machine. Pods from different brands can’t be used in each other’s machines.

(The exception is ESE or easy serving espresso pods, which are like teabags for coffee and can be used across a number of different machines – although, crucially, more usually in espresso makers than pod machines. The Dualit 3-in-1 espresso maker is one of these.)

So, it’s important that you opt for the system that right for you. If you’re keen on sweeter, milky drinks, Nescafe Dolce Gusto is probably best. If you’re after a better grade of espresso, check out Lavazza or Nespresso machines.

While the coffee in capsules arguably stays fresher thanks to the individual packaging, coffee experts argue that the finely ground capsule ingredients have passed their best long before they make it to your cup. They also claim that capsule coffee is not strong enough for the typical coffee-lover.

However, a barista-style coffee experience is not everyone’s priority. Capsule machines are quick, consistent, simple to use and easy to clean. Therein lies their appeal.

For the most part, they are considerably less expensive than espresso machines – although the difference is not as pronounced as you might think, particularly with a good deal on the latter.

Coffee pods tend to cost 25-45p per cup, depending on which brand you buy, which isn’t bad. But price isn’t even the capsule machine’s selling point: it’s ease of use. And on this, it can’t be beaten.

There’s one caveat, though. Plastic capsules are hard to recycle and while Nespresso offers a returns service so people can recycle their aluminium capsules, it’s a poor second to not creating such disposable items in the first place. Lavazza capsules can be industrially composted, so you can dispose of them in your food waste (but not in your garden) or drop them off at a Terracycle site: there are currently 182 active drop-off locations. 

We think the Lavazza Desea is one of the best pod coffee machines available and gave it  4.5 out of 5 stars in our review. It’s a quiet coffee maker with four coffee options and five milk recipes, thanks to its inbuilt milk beater and steam wand. It comes with a compatible glass coffee cup.

Filter machines

Pros: Inexpensive; Good for volume drinkers; Easy to use and clean

Cons: Forget a latte. They’re only good for a long black coffee, or with a dash of milk

Filter or drip coffee makers are an excellent choice in terms of ease and value. A frill-free option, they make a straightforward cup of black coffee – actually, even better than that: they make a whole pot. This means they’re a good option for bigger households or people who work from home and are likely to want more than one cup in relatively quick succession.

They are also one of the most budget-friendly options.

The disadvantage of a filter machine is if you leave coffee sitting in the pot, either the heated plate will switch off after a period, leaving you with cold coffee, or the heated plate will continue to warm it, giving it a bitter, stale taste. Either way, you may end up wasting coffee. 

We’ve tested a couple of good filter coffee machine options. The Russell Hobbs Chester Grind & Brew is the pricier option – but there’s a reason for that. It has an inbuilt grinder, which is very unusual for a filter coffee machine and will allow you to use fresh beans. The best price we can find for it is on Amazon, where it’s currently available for £69.99.

The Russell Hobbs  Buckingham Filter Coffee Machine is a more budget-friendly buy. As a bonus, it has a 24-hour programmable timer, so you can have fresh coffee waiting for you at any time. You can buy it from AO.com for £54. 

Espresso machines

Pros: High-quality coffee; Smaller countertop footprint; Home barista experience

Cons: At the pricier end of the scale; Messy; Labour-intensive   

Of all types of coffee maker, espresso machines are the messiest, the fiddliest, the most labour-intensive and – according to coffee aficionados – the one that’ll deliver the best cup of coffee, or espresso-based coffee, at least.

They also tend to be pricier than filter or pod coffee machines, but not as expensive as bean-to-cup machines.

An espresso machine won’t usually grind beans (although the brilliant Breville Barista Max does just that). Rather than dumping ground coffee into a filter, or beans into a funnel or a pod into a brewing head, you add just the right amount of ground coffee (this is where things get messy), tamp it down, then adjust the volume of water to get your perfect cup.

Most espresso machines will also feature an integral steam wand for heating and texturising milk, allowing you to produce lattes, cappuccinos and more. A cheaper machine will take longer to heat up and you may need to let it cool down between using the steam wand and dispensing coffee.

An espresso machine needs some thought before purchase. It’s probably only worth investing in one if you enjoy the experience of making coffee nearly as much as drinking it.

However, these machines are very aesthetically pleasing and as you can fiddle with settings to control every aspect of your coffee, they’re a good option not only for coffee mavens but for people who like their beverage with a side of gadget.

The Sage Bambino is one of the best we’ve tested. It has a small countertop footprint, heats quickly and has an integral steam wand. You can buy it from Very for £329.99.

Bean-to-cup machines

Pros: Ease of use; High quality coffee

Cons: Expensive; Large countertop footprint

The bean-to-cup machine is a fully automated espresso maker. You add fresh beans in the top and at a push of a button, get espresso dispensed below. Automated milk steaming makes it easier to make lattes and more.

While you might lose a granular level of control when compared to a traditional espresso machine, it’s much quicker, tidier and easier to use. This means it’s not the perfect option for coffee lovers who enjoy tinkering to create the perfect espresso: it’s the equivalent of CD mixing, instead of vinyl. However, instead of controlling the volumes of coffee and water by hand, you’ll be able to programme your machine to dispense your espresso the way you like it.

In addition, instead of a manual steam wand, many bean-to-cup machines have automatic milk frothing. They also often feature automatic cleaning programmes. 

If you have the budget and space, this is the best way to get fresh, high-quality coffee with minimal effort.

The Gaggia Magenta Plus is one of the best we’ve tested. You can buy it from the Caffe Italia website for £589.

Connected coffee makers

Pros: Fun; Arguably more convenient

Cons: Operating a coffee machine remotely can only get you so far

Connected coffee makers come in many forms: espresso makers, capsule or drip machines. They’re usually controlled from a phone app and, in some cases, via your home assistant. While an app interface may (arguably) be more user-friendly for fiddling with brewing settings, the overall usefulness of a connected coffee maker does somewhat elude us.

You can set it to brew on schedule and adjust the settings from bed, which admittedly sounds quite nice (although mainly because thinking about bed and coffee is generally a good thing). However, you still have to fill it with water and coffee. And, as coffee purists know, the best coffee is the freshest coffee.

To that end, while you can start the brewing process from bed, you’ll still be running down the stairs to grab and swig the finished product before it cools.

Unless, that is, your drone can whisk it up to you? And your robot vacuum cleaner can mop up after your drone? Ah, future-world problems. Can’t wait.

Lavazza has come up with a different angle on the connected coffee machine that makes it a lot more useful. The Lavazza a Modo Mio Voicy has an inbuilt Amazon Alexa speaker. So, essentially, your home assistant and your coffee machine are one and the same. You can also adjust brew and dispensing settings in the app. 

We liked it a lot when we reviewed it. It had a launch price of £249 but some retailers, including John Lewis, are now selling it for £299. The best price we can find for the machine alone is on Amazon, where it’s £209 for a limited period.

But, if you’re interested in signing up to a coffee capsule subscription (and if you’re buying the machine anyway, why not?), you can get it from Lavazza for £50. Again, this is a limited time deal. 

Didn’t see the machine of your dreams? For more recommendations, have a look at our round of the best coffee machines we’ve tested.